Yes, Tom Holland, we have time for a sinner.

“The Devil All the Time” is a story about individuals whose lives connect through the darkness of sin. Netflix’s newest gothic thriller is directed by Antonio Campos. Campos is most known for his films “Afterschool”, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Buy it Now.” With a stacked cast, there is strong acting across the board and a well-connected plot. Yet, it’s more like an average Christmas gift wrapped in crisp, ornate paper.

The film marks Tom Holland’s Netflix debut as Arvin Russell. A young man trying to stick true to his father’s teachings and protect his loved ones. This proves to be difficult as he lives in a town full of atrocious people who push him to commit horrible acts.

There is a line in the film that says; “it seemed to his son that his father fought the devil all the time.”

We see this sentiment paralleled with Arvin. In this town, he encounters many devils who lead him to sin. A manipulative and pedophilic preacher, a corrupt cop and serial murderers.

Holland gives one of the best performances in the film. 

There is a scene where he brutally beats up some kids for picking on his sister. He then goes to his car and has to gather himself, wiping the blood off his hands. It cuts to an earlier scene where his father did the same thing.

Arvin is doing what his father taught him, and this logic stays with him throughout the film. 

Holland does a magnificent job portraying a troubled person with a good heart forced to do immoral acts.

A good directorial performance by Campos, and solid cinematography from Lol Crawley.

Robert Pattinson, who plays preacher Preston Teagardin, also delivers a stellar performance. He really goes all in as this sick and egotistical preacher full of sin.

There is a despicable scene where he tells his pregnant victim that the baby is her sin to deal with. Despite him being the one to say that their relationship was okay because it was in the eyes of God.

This is a film where it’s a lot of good acting surrounding a simple plot.

It boils down to one person committing a crime as bad as the rest but isn’t as morally corrupt. There is nothing groundbreaking with this plot, and they make it look deeper than it is.

The film lacks in building interest with the side plots. Compared to Arvin and the preacher, the serial killer couple and corrupt cop plot were not as interesting and slowed down the film.

We are in the middle of a pivotal moment for Arvin’s story and suddenly cut to the cop (Sebastian Stan) confronting his mobster boss. The scene takes you out of an intense feeling from the previous scenes with Arvin and into a more meh feeling with the cop.

They served as more “devils” for Arvin to encounter, but a murderous couple and a cop illegally rigging an election are too basic to add more depth to the film.

There’s no happy ending, playing to the theme that sin is a slippery slope. Once you do one, it’s a downhill spiral from there, even if you were just finishing what they started.